Now Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding

This is part nine of the “Twelve Posts of Christmas,” a series exploring twelve traditions of the Christmas season.

Of the most irritatingly catchy tunes at Christmastime, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” has few rivals. I can speak from experience — my choir at the Washington National Cathedral performed a rendition of the song a few weeks back and I still sing it in my sleep.

Despite the carol’s contagious melody, certain lyrics of the beloved holiday jingle have befuddled listeners for years. You might have guessed already the notorious section to which I am referring. (I am certain that you, dear reader, know the lyrics of the song — but bear with me as I reprint them here. There is a purpose, I assure you.)

Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring us some figgy pudding
Now bring some out here

[Chorus]
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year

For we all like our figgy pudding
For we all like our figgy pudding
For we all like our figgy pudding
With all this good cheer

The above lyrics are sourced from a version of the carol popularized by Englishman Arthur Warrell, who in 1939 published the 16th-century carol under the title “A Merry Christmas.” Warrell’s scoring of the tune still endures.

While Warrell’s lyrics and harmonies remain the most popular, other slightly altered renditions of the tune make the occasional appearance. (Can you spot the difference?)

Now bring us a figgy pudding
Now bring us a figgy pudding
Now bring us a figgy pudding
Then bring some out here

Which version is correct? “Some” figgy pudding or “a” figgy pudding? Hence the core question arises: What is figgy pudding anyway?

When Americans hear the word “pudding,” most think of a pudding cup — the best part of a grade-school cold lunch packed by Mom. (No? Just me?) In the U.K., the term “pudding” is fairly synonymous with the American word “dessert.”

According to the quintessentially English Cambridge Dictionary, a pudding is “a sweet dish, often made from sugar, milk, flour, and flavoring, and usually eaten after a meal.” Cobblers, cakes, crumbles, and custards all qualify as puddings. The category is both broad and scrumptious.

With regard to figgy pudding, it is a dessert traditionally made during Christmastime, with origins harking back to medieval England.

The first known recipe appeared in a 14th-century English cookbook of sorts. The Forme of Cury was “compiled of the chef Maister Cokes of kyng Richard the Secunde kyng of Englond” (that is, compiled by King Richard II’s master cook). The text serves as a culinary archive for the tastes of the time and offers a recipe for one of the first “fygey” puddings:

Fygey*

Take Almaundes blanched, grynde hem and drawe hem up with water and wyne: quarter fygur hole raisouns. cast þerto powdour gyngur and hony clarified. seeþ it wel & salt it, and serue forth.

*So named from the figs therein used.

Translation (according to me):

Figgy*

Take blanched almonds, grind them and mix with water and wine, quartered figs, and whole raisins. Add in powdered ginger and clarified honey. Seep it well and salt it, and serve forth.

*So named for the figs used therein.

The medieval manuscript — or at least, the copies of the original that have survived — contains many recipes for dishes that verge on elegance. A recipe for “Sawse Madame” calls for stuffing a goose with “sawge, persel, ysope, saueray, quinces, peeres, garlek and Grapes” (sage, parsley, hyssop, savory, quinces, pears, garlic, and grapes) and roasting it whole. Other dishes, however, call for boiled meats or ground fish parts. Mmmm.

All are welcome to attempt their own medieval “fygey” according to the recipe laid out by The Forme of Cury. However, the lack of common measuring tools means the recipe, like all recipes from the old text, lacks specific quantities. (My guess is that the king’s chefs would just tell you to “eyeball it.”)

For those who prefer measurements, the former personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Darren McGrady, has shared his recipe for the figgy puddings consumed by the royal family. (Raisins, currants, and sultanas replace actual figs in the recipe.) His version, which leans Victorian, has 13 ingredients, a symbolic nod to Jesus and the twelve disciples. The “sweetmeats” — dried fruits — are soaked in brandy before being mixed with flour, sugar, and spices. The mix is then pressed into a spiced mound and steamed before serving. Traditionally, a silver six-pence was placed in the mix, and whoever found it in their pudding had good luck for a year.

With this figgy pudding on hand, you can be sure your holiday guests will finally leave your house! As we all know, they won’t go until they get some.

From all of us here at National Review: We wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year!